Louis heels having forward lip extensions



March 20, 1962 E. E. JOINER 3,025,616

LOUIS HEELS HAVING FORWARD LIP EXTENSIONS Filed June 17, 1960 [n 2/ en for Edgar E. Jz'n 61' By his Attorney United States Patent 3,025,616 LOUIS IEELS HAVING FORWARD LIP EXTENSIQNEl Edgar E. Joiner, Andover, Mass., assignor to Fred W.

Mears Heel Company, Inc., Lawrence, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 17, 1960, Ser. No. 36,853 2 Claims. (Cl. 36--24.5)

This invention relates to heels used in the manufacture of womens shoes and is illustrated with reference to a Louis heel which has been attached to a shoe and to the breast of which the rear end of an outsole is applied simultaneously with its attachment to the forepart and the shank of the shoe by the use of a machine such for example as disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 91,547 filed February 24, 1961, which is a continuation of an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 763,055, filed September 24, 1958 in the name of Helge Gulbrandsen.

In the manufacture of shoes having Louis heels it is desirable that the shank portion of the shoe shall merge gracefully with tlie breast of the heel. The rear end of the shank portion of the shoe is less bowed or convex transversely than is the upper end of the breast of a Louis heel attached to the shoe and when the outsole has been cemented to the shoe and to the breast of the heel attached to the shoe the portion of the outsole just forward of its heel breast line commonly appears to be flat transversely and longitudinally of said outsole and is sometimes referred to as the sink hole of the shank of the shoe.

With the foregoing considerations in view applicant has provided a Louis heel having a breast the lower portion of which is substantially planar and the upper portion of which overlies said lower portion and is concave heightwise and convex widthwise, said heel having an attaching face which terminates at side and rear faces of the heel and, in accordance with a feature of the invention, has a forward lip extension comprising thin lateral margins offset inwardly from the side faces respectively of the heel, an upper face continuous with the attaching face of the heel and a lower face which together with said upper face defines said lateral margins and terminates approximately at said upper face and which is substantially continuous with the upper portion of the breast of the heel.

In the finished shoe the lip extension of the heel overlies the rear median portion of the shank of the shoe and supports the outsole which is adhesively secured to said shank and to said extension and the breast of the heel with the result that the rear part of the shank of the shoe has a longitudinally concave transversely convex appearance and merges gracefully with the upper portion of the breast of the heel, the formation of the above-mentioned sink hole being avoided.

The present invention consists in the above features and in novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration, said invention being fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

in the drawings,

FIGS. 1 and 2 are front and side views respectively of the illustrative Louis heel;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line III-III of FIG. 1 showing a forward upper portion of the heel; and

FIG. 4 shows in perspective the rear end of a shoe to which the Louis heel has been attached, the rear portion of the outsole of the shoe being illustrated in phantom and a portion of the heel having been broken away.

An illustrative Louis heel 20 embodying the present 3 ,025,@ l h Patented Mar. 2%, 1962 invention is disclosed with reference to its attachment to a heel seat 22 of a shoe 24 by the use of nails 26 which are driven through said heel seat and into the heel in teed-in relation, a rim of an attaching face 28 of the heel bearing snugly against the overlasted counter of an upper of the shoe at its feather line 30. Secured to the median portion of the bottom of the shank and heel portions of an insole 32 of the shoe 24 is a shank stiffener 34.

The attaching face 28 of the heel 20 terminates at side and rear faces 36, 38 respectively of the heel and a breast of the heel comprises a lower portion 46 which is substantially planar and an upper portion 46:: which overlies said planar portion and is concave heightwise and is convex widthwise.

The heel 24) has a forward lip extension. 42 comprising thin lateral margins 44 offset inwardly equal distances from the side faces 36 of the heel. The lateral margins 44 of the forward lip extension 42 of the heel 2i) as Well as spaced front edges as of said lip extension are formed by an upper face 48 which is continuous with the attaching face 28 of the heel and a lower face 50 which is substantially continuous and merges gracefully with the upper portion 46a of the breast of the heel. The widthwise convexity or lateral bow of the lower face of the lip extension 4-2 diminishes along its different portions from its rear to its forward end, said forward end being relatively fiat transversely. The attaching face 28 of the Louis heel 26 is dished less than is the attaching face of a conventional Louis heel, the upper face 43 of the lip extension 42 being dished transversely to substantially the same extent as is the forward end of the attaching face of the heel and forming a continuous face therewith.

The forward central portion of the lip extension 42 has formed in it an opening 52 and in longitudinal alinement with said opening is a cavity 54 formed in the upper face of the extension, said opening and cavity serving to accommodate or receive the shank stiffener 34 attached to the insole 32 of the shoe 24.

An outsole 56 cemented to an overlasted margin 53 of a shank of the shoe 24 is also cemented to the lower face 50 of the lip extension 42 and to the breast 4% 443a by the use of the machine disclosed in said application Serial No. 763,055. With a view to providing a shoe which is attractive in appearance it is desirable that the lateral convexity of the bottom of the outsole 56 applied to the shoe shall be greatest in the vicinity of a heel breast line 63 of the outsole and shall diminish forwardly from this line so as to merge gracefully with a forward relatively less transversely convex portion of the shank of the outsole. By providing the heel 20 with the lip extension 42 which in the finished shoe supports the median portion of the outsole 56 of the shoe just forwardly of the heel breast line 60 of the shoe, it is possible to provide the outsole with an outer face the face portion of which merges attractively with the portion of the outsole overlying the upper portion 4% of the breast of the heel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A Louis heel having a breast an upper portion of which overlies a lower portion of said breast and is concave heightwise and is convex widthwise, said heel having an attaching face which terminates at side and rear faces of the heel and having a forward lip extension, said lip extension comprising thin lateral margins which are offset inwardly equal distances from the sides respectively of the heel and converge as they extend forwardly of the heel and which are formed by upper and lower faces of the extension, said upper face being concave widthwise of the heel and merging with the attaching face of the heel and said lower face being concave heightwise of the heel and convex widthwise of the heel and merging smoothly with the upper portion of the breast of the heel.

2. A Louis heel having a breast an upper portion of which overlies a lower portion of said breast and is concave heightwise and convex widthwise, said heel having an attaching face which terminates at side and rear faces of the heel and having a forward lip extension comprising thin lateral margins offset inwardly from the side faces respectively of the heel, said lip extension also having an upper face continuous with the ataching face of the heel and a lower face which terminates approximately at said upper face of and is substantially continuous with the upper portion of the breast of the heel, said lip extension having formed in its forward end and along its upper face respectively an opening and an alined cavity adapted to receive a shank stiffener.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,791,925 Gabriel Feb. 10, 1931 1,857,475 Quirk May 10, 1932 1,968,047 Lovejoy July 31, 1934 2,119,363 Slosberg May 31, 1938 2,133,352 Jannings Oct. 18, 1938 2,161,846 Boxxoni June 13, 1939 

